Thermal treatment of substrates is a staple of the semiconductor manufacturing industry. Substrates are subjected to thermal treatments in a variety of processes and apparatus for a variety of reasons. In some processes, substrates are subjected to annealing thermal energy, while in others, they may be subjected to oxidizing or degassing conditions. One substrate after another is positioned in an apparatus, heated for processing, and then cooled. The apparatus for thermally processing the substrate may undergo hundreds or thousands of extreme heating and cooling cycles every day.
In addition to thermal treatment of substrates, various aspects of operating the apparatus may require materials with certain electrical, optical, or thermal properties. Design of such apparatus can present formidable engineering challenges to those wishing to prolong the useful life of such apparatus under the extreme conditions to which they are subjected. As pressure builds to reduce cost and increase throughput, more emphasis than ever before is placed on reducing or eliminating facility downtime. Thus, there is a continuing need for apparatus and methods of making apparatus capable of performing reliably under the extreme thermal cycling of modern semiconductor processes.